1. Technical Field
The subject invention relates generally to the field of toy vehicles, and, more particularly, to an inflatable remote control toy vehicle.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventional remote control toy vehicles have typically been formed from hard plastic molded materials. There are difficulties associated with forming such remote control vehicles out of a hard plastic material. For instance, the hard plastic bodies of conventional remote control toy vehicles are breakable and can crack upon impact with a hard surface. Once the hard plastic bodies of the toy vehicles become cracked, the performance of the toy vehicle can be impacted and even render the toy vehicle unusable.
There have been attempts to provide remote control vehicles that are not constructed out of a hard plastic material. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,659,837 issued to Lieberman discloses an inflatable radio control car having an inflatable body with a cavity formed in its bottom surface that is situated over a remotely controlled drive unit. The inflatable radio control car of U.S. Pat. No. 6,659,837 is designed to be used as a promotional display, such that it possesses non-functional, inflatable wheels formed as part of the inflatable body that are intended to provide an overall appearance simulating the appearance of a real car. The remotely controlled drive unit is hidden underneath the inflatable body and allows the promotional display to be moved around. While the toy car disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,659,837 avoids some of the problems associated with hard plastic remote control vehicles, it possesses a number of other deficiencies that limit its effectiveness as being utilized as a remote control toy vehicle as opposed to merely an promotional display. Initially, by positioning the inflatable wheels of the inflatable body very close to the ground such that they assume the appearance of real wheels, the functionality of the toy car in U.S. Pat. No. 6,659,837 is limited as it has a very low clearance and must be used on a flat, level surfaces to keep the inflatable wheels from engaging the ground surface. Moreover, the inflatable front and rear wheels of the inflatable body do not move or rotate, thus rendering a rather unrealistic effect of making the toy car in U.S. Pat. No. 6,659,837 seem to float or hover when the drive unit moving the object cannot be seen by a viewer. Still further, the remotely controlled drive unit is located in a rectangular housing positioned in the center of the device, thus limiting the functionality and performance of the toy car in the '837 patent by having the movement and steering of the device limited to very center of the device in attempting to hide the drive unit from sight.